PREVIEW | County aiming to go top of League Two when Yeovil Town visit Rodney Parade

Newport County AFC will be looking to go top of the League Two table by bettering Lincoln City’s result when they host Yeovil Town on Saturday. The Exiles can secure a fifth successive league victory for the first time since March 2013 at Rodney Parade, whilst the visitors will want to break that record and ascend into the play-off positions.

Here, find all the facts and statistics ahead of this League Two encounter…

How they’ve fared so far in League Two...

Despite having finished in the lower echelons of the League Two table for the past three seasons, the Glovers are currently showing the sort of form that suggests they could have a much better campaign this time around.

Like County, they are unbeaten since the opening day of the season when they suffered a narrow defeat at League Two newcomers Bury FC. Yeovil had been doing extremely well to hold on with nine men following the dismissals of Tom James and ex-Exile Jordan Green, only for the Shakers to finally make their numerical advantage count in stoppage time through Gold Omotayo.

In their opening home match of the season, Yeovil picked up a credible draw with promotion favourites Mansfield Town, although may see it as two points lost after surrendering the lead twice. Diallang Jaiyesimi and Yoann Arquin both scored for the Glovers, but the points were shared after goals from Craig Davies and Matt Preston.

Yeovil’s first league victory came in their third match and could be a contender for result of the season. The Glovers defied all odds when hammering Notts County 4-0 away from home, Alex Fisher grabbing a hat-trick before Arquin came back to haunt his former employers by compounding them to an emphatic defeat.

That ascended them to a season high 4th position in the league table but they quickly dropped down eight places when they drew 0-0 at home with Oldham Athletic.

They swiftly returned to winning ways, however, as they achieved their first home victory of the campaign against Stevenage. First-half goals from Alex Fisher and Sessi D'Almeida clinched the three points for the Glovers – their first home triumph since February.

Yeovil made it back to back victories in their most recent League Two match, as Omari Patrick’s late strike was enough to secure a narrow away victory at Grimsby Town.

Last Saturday, their match with MK Dons was postponed due to international call-ups for the Glovers, meaning they head to Rodney Parade just a point outside of the play-offs but with a game in hand.

Team News

After an 11-day break from league and cup competition, Yeovil Town manager Darren Way is expecting to be able to recall some of his injured squad members for the trip to Rodney Parade.

Ahead of their last match in the CheckaTrade Trophy against Exeter City, the Glovers had six members of their first-team squad unavailable, starting with talisman striker Francois Zoko who has been missing for a month with a knee problem.

Goalkeeper Stuart Nelson has yet to play a single minute of action with a calf injury, while midfielder James Bailey is another yet to take to the field this season following a knee injury.

Defender Tom James is the most recent player to have been added to the injury list having last played on 25th August, but he is now out with a hip flexor complaint, whilst midfielder Rhys Browne and defender Shaun Donnellan are recovering from thigh and hamstring problems respectively.

Despite that extensive list of injury absentees, Way confirmed he is expecting to at-least be able to call on three of those players, even if he wouldn’t be pushed on which players those actually were.

He told iFollow Glovers last week: "I'm told by the physio that we should have three players back from injury for the game at Newport, plus the players back from international duty.

"The players have to make sure they use this break wisely. The international break worked well for us last year with the numbers we've got and the injuries we carried, so I'm expecting the same pattern this time around."

Donnellan is likely to be one of those to return after he featured on international duty for the Republic of Ireland U21s, whilst Sessi D’Almeida (Benin) and Enus Mahmutovic (Lumexmbourg) were unused substitutes for their respective nations and go straight back into the Yeovil side that will travel to South Wales.

One to Watch – Alex Fisher

Currently Yeovil Town’s top scorer at this early stage of the season, striker Alex Fisher finally looks like he may be able to settle at a club for a prolonged amount of time.

The much travelled 28-year old can already boast playing for 13 different clubs in five different countries, but he looks to have settled with Darren Way at Yeovil Town.

He has four goals to his name so far this season from six appearances, having scored a hat-trick in the Glovers shock victory at Notts County, before backing that up with a home goal later in the month against Stevenage.

That means he has a total of 10 goals to his name in the colours of Yeovil Town, signing for the club midway through last season and getting goals against Cambridge United, Colchester United, Swindon Town, Notts County and two in the impressive victory at Coventry City.

Starting his career with Oxford United, Fisher scored his first senior goal in January 2008 as part of a comprehensive Conference Premier victory against Altrincham at the Kassam Stadium.

Loan spells followed at Oxford City and Brackley Town as Fisher couldn’t quite hold down regular first-team football with the club, taking the decision to join up with the Glenn Hoddle academy in Spain.

A move to Jerez Industrial soon materialised in the 2010-11 campaign, but a serious jaw injury put a halt to a debut season that included 21 goals, including 17 in the league.

Fisher then moved on to Belgium where he signed for second division side KVK Tienen, before further spells in the same country with KRC Mechelen and KSK Heist.

His travelling continued as he found his way to Monza in Italy for the final few months of the 2013/14 season, before returning to England for his first taste of life in the Football League with Mansfield Town.

He didn’t quite hit the ground running, scoring twice in 16 appearances, and couldn’t do much better at Torquay United when netting five goals in 23 appearances.

After cancelling his contract by mutual consent with the Conference Premier outfit, Fisher moved to yet another country, turning out for Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Motherwell in Scotland, before moving to Yeovil in January of this year.

Manager – Darren Way

Since taking the reigns at a club he featured for prominently during his playing days, Darren Way has gradually been restoring Yeovil Town to their former glory days and has hit the ground running with some impressive results already this campaign.

In what is his first managerial position, Way was handed the job on 31st December 2015 after a short spell as caretaker manager - and with the club in disarray at the bottom of the Football League.

Way’s first game in permanent charge of the Glovers was a very notable one, a 1-0 victory over relegation rivals York City coming at just the right time as it was Yeovil’s first league victory for 17 matches.

Yeovil’s form picked up from there and Way was able to guide them quite comfortably to safety in 19th position, fourteen points clear of York and Dagenham & Redbridge in the drop-zone.

Way’s first full season in charge was certainly a topsy-turvy one. The Glovers were bottom in September, in the play-offs before Christmas after an improved run of results, before only winning three of their final 27 matches. That rollercoaster of emotion eventually saw Yeovil finish in 20th position.

Another 19th position came last season as the Glovers matched County in reaching the Fourth Round of the Emirates FA Cup, losing to eventual runners up Manchester United, but their early form this time around suggests Way could be in for a better campaign this time around.

Looking specifically at meetings with County, Way actually celebrated a big milestone with Yeovil Town when he came to Rodney Parade last season. That was his 100th game in charge of the Glovers, but County were in no mood for a party as they secured a 2-0 home victory.

Including that game, Way has managed against the Exiles on five previous occasions. He has secured two victories – both of which came in 1-0 victories at Huish Park – and also suffered three defeats.

Meetings between the two clubs in the 2017/18 campaign

Newport County AFC were only able to amass six points against five opponents in League Two last season, and Yeovil Town were one of those teams that County beat both home and away.

The maximum haul starts with the first meeting between the two sides on 7th October 2017 and in truth, a 2-0 scoreline for the Exiles could have been so much more had it not been for the goalkeeping heroics of Artur Krysiak.

After controlling the entirety of first-half proceedings, County finally got their just rewards when Padraig Amond headed home from six yards in stoppage time to finally breach the resistance of Yeovil.

Most of County’s chances were falling the way of Joss Labadie at Rodney Parade – the captain had an attempt ruled out for offside and seen a header crash back off the crossbar – before finally getting his goal on 55 minutes when connecting to a Matty Dolan corner-kick.

Victory meant County made their best start to a Football League season since 1982 having amassed 21 points from their opening 12 league fixtures – can they move one step towards beating that this time around by getting another three points on Saturday?

In the reverse fixture at Huish Park on 10th March 2018, County secured their first victory in 10 matches from all competitions with another 2-0 success over the Glovers.

After a somewhat uninspiring opening 45 minutes, County broke the deadlock with their opening opportunity as Josh Sheehan timed his run to perfection to guide a Ben White cross into the far corner from 10 yards.

That was his first goal in County colours for 420 days and he was again involved as the Exiles secured all three points in stoppage time, launching the counter-attack that saw Paul Hayes finish well from inside the area.

Officials

For the fourth time this season, Newport County AFC will be officiated by one of the 12 referees promoted to the Football League for this campaign.

Peter Wright has been the man in the middle for five games so far in his debut season – four of which have come in League Two – and has given out a total of 15 yellows and three reds between those matches.

Just the one yellow card was brandished in his first ever Football League match, Romain Vincelot the offender as Stevenage secured a credible 3-1 away victory at Crawley Town on 11th August.

Wright brandished a season high six yellows as Carlisle United took all three points at Cheltenham Town the following week, Richie Bennett getting the match winner at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium.

Since then, Wright has produced a red card in each of his last three matches, starting with the dismissal of Paul Dixon in Grimsby Town’s 1-1 draw at MK Dons.

New manager Harry Kewell was watching from the stands as Dan Jones was given a straight red card during Notts County’s 3-1 home defeat to Forest Green Rovers, the visitors certainly showing they could cope without Christian Doidge with a composed victory at Meadow Lane.

Wright refereed his most recent game on Tuesday night during Leicester City U21s tie with Fleetwood Town, sending off Cian Bolger as the academy side won the CheckaTrade Tophy tie 7-6 on penalties.

All that follows on from the two seasons Wright spent officiating in the National League. He gave out 70 yellows and four reds from 26 games last season, while 59 yellows and one red were brandished in the 2016/17 campaign from just 17 matches.

Can’t make the match?

Don’t forget – if you reside outside of the UK, you can watch the game live by subscribing to County’s iFollow service. Commentary by Charlie Brown and Richard Shepherd can also be found at the Match Centre from 2.45pm.

An on-the-whistle match report of this match will be provided on the club website upon the end of the game. Michael Flynn’s post-match analysis will appear on the website the day after the game, while you can watch all of Flynn’s post-match press conference as-well as two County players by subscribing to #iFollowExiles.

REPORT| First home league defeat for County as Yeovil Town win at Rodney Parade

Newport County AFC have suffered their first home defeat of the League Two season as Yeovil Town ascended into the play-off positions with a 6-0 victory at Rodney Parade.

Ex-Exile Jordan Green controlled proceedings in the first-half, setting up Yohan Arquin’s opener on 20 minutes before getting the second himself with a neat finish past Joe Day.

The effervescent midfielder also played his part in the third goal on the stroke of half-time, setting up Arquin who saw a shot saved well by Day, before Diallang Jaiyesimi out-jumped Mickey Demetriou to head home into the empty net.

Green again got in the act when firing shot a shot under Day for the fourth, before in the final fifteen minutes substitute Olufela Olomola and left-back Carl Dickinson also found the net.

Despite the result, County only drop one place to third after matchday eight of the League Two season, three points off the early pace setters Lincoln City and with a point advantage to the teams chasing the automatic promotion places.

Mike Flynn elected to name just the one change from the side that secured a first ever victory at Oldham Athletic last time out in League Two.

Having missed the game in Lancashire due to international commitments with Wales U21s, Mark Harris was restored back into the starting side in place of Jamille Matt, who went to the bench.

The Exiles again implemented the ever so effective 3-4-1-2 formation at Rodney Parade and named three ex-Glovers in the matchday squad – Josh Sheehan, Keanu Marsh-Brown and Matty Dolan.

Yeovil Town manager Darren Way named an unchanged team that secured a narrow away success at Grimsby Town in their last League Two outing.

That side included a notable return for County legend Gary Warren, the centre-back returning to South Wales for the first time since leaving the club in 2012 having made over 100 appearances for the Exiles.

The Glovers again implemented a 4-4-2 formation that had seen them just outside the play-offs before kick-off and unbeaten since the opening day of the season.

Having not played in 11 days after their match last weekend was postponed due to international call-ups, it was Yeovil who looked fresher early-on as they controlled the opening stages of the contest.

Ex-Exile Jordan Green was the architect of their good play in the opening ten minutes, firing just wide on two occasions, with the second one in particular an awkward height for the midfielder to wrap his foot around.

County grew into the contest the longer it progressed but were unfortunate not to make anything of Alex Pattison’s wayward pass back to his goalkeeper, but Nathan Baxter did read the situation well to ensure he beat Padraig Amond to it and hold.

The Glovers continued to control proceedings despite the County resurgence and they made their advantage count when opening the scoring after 20 minutes.

Green was again instrumental from his right-wing position, latching onto the long ball from Bevis Mugabi, and when Scot Bennett slipped, he burst into the area and found Diallang Jaiyesimi then Yohan Arquin, who smashed home despite the best efforts of Joe Day in the County goal.

The Exiles responded in just the right manner when attempting to find an immediate response and how the ball stayed out on 24 minutes is anyone’s guess.

Bakinson turned Pattison inside-out with an unbelievable Cruyff turn on the edge of the area, found Padraig Amond in space but his shot hit Mark Harris on the way through and Bakinson’s follow-up rebound was cleared on the line by Gary Warren.

Yeovil’s greatest attacking threat was that looping cross-field pass into Green’s channel and it worked wonders again on 38 minutes when the visitors doubled their advantage.

This time Green found the net himself in a goal his performance deserved, shaking off the best attempts of Mickey Demetriou from another Dickinson pass to poke past Day from inside the area.

Two minutes of additional time were indicated at the end of first-half proceedings and Yeovil were at it again with another scintillating passage of play to treble their lead just seconds before half-time.

The Glovers were playing some great stuff between Dickinson and Arquin on the left-side throughout the first-half, this time the latter managed to squeeze through the defence and force a really smart save from Day, but Jaiyesimi was on hand to leap above Demetriou and give the Glovers a commanding lead.

County needed something to change quickly after the restart to try and at least spark some sort of comeback into proceedings and Flynn threw on Keanu Marsh-Brown and Robbie Willmott at half-time for Sheehan and Pipe.

But neither of those attacking players could do anything about Yeovil further extending their lead just three minutes after the restart.

Green was certainly coming back to haunt his former employers when returning to Rodney Parade, drilling a shot low and hard through the legs of Day from an acute angle having been allowed to ghost in past the County defence from his menacing position out-wide.

Matty Dolan tested the fingertips of Baxter with an audacious free-kick just before the hour as County tried to react from having the stuffing knocked out of them. The former Glover sent another set-piece just over the top shortly after as County were at least controlling things at that stage and Marsh-Brown saw a shot well saved from Baxter.

But just as it looked like County might make a game of it, Yeovil extended their lead ever more with 22 minutes remaining.

Glovers substitute Olufela Olomola was afforded far too much time and space in the area to pick his spot, squirming a shot under Day after more clever play by Dickinson, Green and frontman Alex Fisher.

The day got even worse for the Exiles with fifteen minutes remaining as the away side got their sixth goal, Dickinson getting a goal his performance deserved as Day spilt his 30-yard free-kick over the goal line.

Robbie Willmott’s afternoon then took a premature end with eight minutes remaining, the midfielder receiving a straight red card on his League Two return for an overzealous lunge on Olomola.

That was the final moment of note as referee Peter Wright called an end to proceedings.

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Ticket Sales for Saturday's match are going well with tickets being snapped up by the minute but why not save yourself time and money by purchasing your tickets online today!

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Purchasing Tickets

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